AUGUSTA — For the second time, Augusta will have a namesake that will take to the seas in the nation’s defense.

And thanks to some research by sailors likely to help man it, and a visit to the city by its commanding officer this week, a bit of the city will be going to sea with the warship.

The USS Augusta, a 419-foot-long, 104-foot-wide Independence-variant littoral combat ship designed to strike fast and with a shallow draft that allows it to provide defenses along the shoreline, is now being completed at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala.

City and Navy officials said they hope it can be commissioned, or put into service, this fall in Maine, as close as possible to its namesake city of Augusta. Potentially, that could be Portland.

That is part of why Cmdr. Christopher Polnaszek, a highly decorated naval officer who will command the USS Augusta, and Lt. Ada Willis, who is handling public relations related to the new ship, were in Maine this week.

The two examined potential docking sites Thursday in Portland, before traveling to Augusta for a whirlwind tour of the city and a check-in with city councilors.

“Our expectation is sometime in the fall, we’ll be back here on the coast of Maine and commission (the USS Augusta) into service as close to the namesake city as we can,” Polnaszek said Thursday.

But finding a potential location for the ship’s official commissioning was only part of the reason for the visit. Polnaszek said the visit is also part of the Navy’s efforts to ensure the ship has more ties to Augusta than just its name.

“One reason I came to Augusta was so I was able to convey what made Augusta special and unique,” he told city councilors. “We expect to get 20 to 30 years out of the ship. We wanted to make sure it was stamped with what we know from the great people here.”

The trip to Augusta was funded by the Navy, Willis said, because the Navy allots funding for community outreach to develop, maintain and strengthen the important relationship between sailors and ships’ namesake cities.

Polnaszek said efforts to connect with the ship’s namesake city go beyond that, however. He said two sailors who do graphic arts as a hobby spent months researching Augusta so they could design a crest for the ship that is rife with references to Augusta and the ship’s mission. Crests are generally displayed as patches on sailors’ uniforms, on ship’s plaques and in other areas.

Details within the crest with ties to Augusta include the Old Fort Western blockhouse over two crossed cannons and a pine tree; an aggressive-looking, glaring moose head topped by the Maine Dirigo star; a shield in traditional Navy colors in the center; a wreath, including blueberries; and the words “Protecting the Frontier,” noting the ship’s mission and echoing the motto of the original USS Augusta.

The first USS Augusta, a Los Angeles Class nuclear-powered Navy submarine launched in 1984, was decommissioned in 2009 after patrolling the seas for more than two decades. It served through the Cold War, stalking Soviet submarines and helping launch the war in Iraq in 2003.

Willis said that in 2019, Richard V. Spencer, then the secretary of the Navy, named the future USS Augusta, citing the long history of service from the people of Maine.

“From the earliest days of the American Revolution to every conflict since, the citizens of Maine have been an important part of the Navy and Marine Corps team,” Spencer said in a statement provided by Willis. “I am pleased that a future ship will carry on that tradition of service by bearing the name and history of their great capital city.”

About 70 sailors will be assigned to the ship, according to officials.

Polnaszek said the USS Augusta is a class of ship that was designed as a smaller, high-speed craft that can be set up for a variety of missions. It can go about 45 knots (about 52 mph), well faster than most ships, and has a shallow draft that allows it to work along the shoreline, providing defenses between the shore and sea. It has a unique trimaran hull.

The littoral ships cost about $500 million, according to media reports.

Augusta Mayor Mark O’Brien traveled to Alabama in December for the ship’s christening.

“I’m surprised at how detailed your research has been about our city,” Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Judkins told the visiting Navy officials. “The crest is absolutely amazing. I’d like to find out where I could get one of those. They nailed it.”

Polnaszek’s itinerary in Augusta included tours of the Maine State House, Cony High School, the Augusta Civic Center, Lithgow Public Library and Fort Western.

“I am extremely humbled by the history, tradition and community of Augusta,” Polnaszek said. “Every person I met and place I visited showed me more of what it means to bear the name Augusta.”

A recent Government Accountability Office report found Navy ships are experiencing increasing maintenance delays and costs. The report cited littoral combat ships as among the craft having the greatest number of problems that impair ships’ ability to operate effectively.

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